Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, for coming in to take this very important Commencement matter. This relates to Ramsgrange Community School, a school in south Wexford. It is a very large provider of secondary-level education to people from as far south as the Hook Peninsula and as far north as Murntown on the outskirts of Wexford town. The school has a massive catchment area and currently has approximately 630 students enrolled and attending. I recently visited the school at the request of acting principal, Tracey Edwards, simply because of the overcapacity and the shortage of spaces there. To be honest, I was shocked by what I saw. So many of the common areas that were originally designed for students to play in, have access to, to socialise in and have their breaks in have been repurposed as teaching areas. It is a school that was designed back in the 1980s. It consists of prefabricated buildings and was designed for a maximum capacity of approximately 500 students. With 630 students attending at the moment, there simply is not enough space. The population in that area and the large catchment area that it serves is continuing to grow. More students are looking to be enrolled there than is possible to facilitate. The school is now starting to turn away students as it is at maximum capacity.

One of the main issues is that the school took on four additional special needs classes. They are housed in an ancillary building that is owned by the Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, WWETB, and that building is simply not fit for purpose. The roof is in bits, and it is an ancient building. The WWETB is allowing the school to facilitate its special needs classes in that building in a gesture of kindness but it is just not suitable.

The school was put forward for extension building works over the past number of years. The process started back in 2020 with the appointment of the design team. It moved to stage 1 in 2021. It moved to stage 2a in 2023. Planning permission was applied for in July 2024. It was granted in May 2025 after a few back and forths regarding further information requests, an archaeological survey and different things that had to be complied with. The school will shortly lodge the application to move to the tender phase. I hope that the school's application to move to the tender phase will be treated as a priority by the Government and the Minister to reflect the reality on the ground. There are so many students. There is overcrowding and the school has classrooms that are not fit for purpose.

This application accordingly has to be treated a priority. It has to move through from the tender to build phases as soon as possible. I ask the Minister of State to take this Matter seriously and to bring it back to the Department and for it to really hear that points that have been put forward by the school community. We need to ensure that it is treated as the priority that it deserves to be as it serves such a large catchment area in south Wexford.